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Your American Idol Recap

American Idol Recap

Is “American Idol” a hit? It’s probably too early to call it a success, but Sunday night’s ratings were pretty darn good. According to Nielsen, 10-point-3 million people watched the premiere of the singing competition – more than any other show that aired on ABC last week. In comparison, 10-point-8 million pairs of eyes watched last month’s premiere of “The Voice.” Probably has everything to do with Lionel Richie, but then again I'm biased.

Meanwhile, the auditions continued in New York, Savannah, Georgia; Los Angeles, and New Orleans last night. Here are some highlights:

Mara Justine started the trend of high school students. The 15-year-old wowed Katy Perry, Lionel Richie, and Luke Bryan with her take on Rihanna’s “Love on the Brain.” Griffin Tucker and Christina Jones, who sang her face off with braces, followed Mara. All three of them went to Hollywood. William Cassanova was another standout. He wasn’t in high school, but the shoe salesman from DC was super smooth. And his rendition of Donny Hathaway’s “A Song for You” earned him the first golden ticket ever handed off via foot.

The tearjerker story of the night came from David Francisco. He moved to Nashville in 2015 to pursue his musical dreams. Unfortunately, three weeks after he got there, he got hit by a car and was paralyzed from the waist down. He fought back, regained some feeling in his legs, and has been pushing ever since. He actually walked into the audition room with his fiancée and killed “Isn’t She Lovely.” Katy was brought to tears.